Some creative, informational, educational and personal things that might be found in my book . . .

Why Rosie's Book?

While growing up, I had a dear friend, Renee, that lived next door and with whom I spent much of my childhood. We grew, in different directions, and went on our merry way. Many years later, I ran into her parents and they kindly reminded me of the laughs they still have over my book. “What book?” I wondered with a puzzled look. "I don't remember a book." Hardy laughter accompanied their response. At some time during our childhood, I tried to convince Renee about something that her parents didn’t agree with. I told her that proof of its truth could be found “in my book.” Naturally she went home and tried to convince her parents of the same thing but they weren’t falling for it. She needed an edge and told them emphatically, “It’s in Rosie’s book!” After they caught their breaths from reborn laughter, they let me know how “Rosie’s book” has been cited for many other things throughout the years. They’ve also mentioned that they’d like to see “Rosie’s book” one day. I can’t remember all of the things that I said were in “my book” but I’m sure my dear friend’s parents can recall much more than I ever knew about – LOL!!! So, here it is . . . my version of things you might find In Rosie’s Book . . .

Saturday, April 28, 2012

This cute image of two sweet and loving furry bears, balancing a large heart between them, can be used for many occasions. As Spring is known as nature's mating season, this image also symbolizes springtime. It's named Nose-Kiss and is available as a rubberstamp by Penny Black.

Once my image is filled with Copic color and has dried well, I use a negative mask and the nasty rag technique to add furry texture to my bears' fur. You can find other examples of how I've used the nasty rag technique here. Below is a closer view of my Copic-filled Nose-Kiss . . .

A large handmade Chrysanthemum formed from a Fiskars Oopsie Daisy, Marvy Uchida daisy, EK Success daisy and oak leaf punches rests on one corner of my Spellbinders Grand Large Labels die cut image while a few more handmade flowers, remaining from a previous card, rest below a ribbon bow. Here's a view of my card front . . .

Flower petals and leaves are painted with Diamond Stickles or Star Dust Stickles for amazing sparkle. Here's a closer view of one of my flower clusters . . .

A few coordinating Basic Grey small buttons are scattered around my One and Only sentiment from Art Gone Wild! on the inside of my card. This pic shows the inside of my card . . .

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The Digi Bells design team over at the Elisabeth Bell's World Challenge Blog wants to see your Spring projects with lots of flowers and Springtime colors. A very lucky randomly selected entry will win TWO Elisabeth Bell digi images of their choice AND TWO clear stamps, designed by Elisabeth Bell, from Elphine House Australia. You can find out more about this challenge and sponsors here. I'm happy to participate in this challenge as a Guest Designer.

I've created a bright and cheerful card using this wonderful Little Curls rubberstamped image designed by Elisabeth Bell for Sweet Pea Stamps. You can find her at the Sweet Pea Stamps online store here. Teresa at Crafts and Me Stamps in the UK carries a wonderful selection of Sweet Pea Stamps so if you're in the UK, you can also find this sweet image here. This pic shows a closer view of my Copic-filled image.

A variety of handmade flowers also borders an Inky Antics stamped sentiment on the inside of my card. Here's a closer view of my handmade flowers. They're all made of shapes punched from my card's scraps with Star Dust Stickles painted over them.

Reminder: The wonderful designers At Joan's Gardens (here)
are looking for six guests to showcase handmade flowers for their May 15th blog
hop. Flowers can be made from dies or punches. If you enjoy making handmade flowers then head over to
Joan's. They're accepting entries until tomorrow the 26th at 6am EST.

Monday, April 23, 2012

This lovely fairy, gently holding a pompom Chrysanthemum in her hands, makes a lovely border for inspirational quotes and/or poems. She has been designed by Sara Burrier exclusively for Crafts and Me Stamps and is available as a digital image.

An EK Success punched photo corner adorns one corner of my card front. A few coordinating Basic Grey small buttons line my sentiment from a Stampin' Up! Summer by the Sea set. Larger buttons are in line under the ribbon bow near my large handmade Chrysanthemum formed from a Fiskars Oopsie Daisy, Marvy Uchida daisy, EK Success daisy and oak leaf punches. Here's a view of my card front . . .

The inside of my card holds a saying from a Stampin' Up! For Father set along with a handmade flower cluster consisting of the smaller daisy punched shapes. All flower petals and leaves are painted with Diamond Stickles or Star Dust Stickles for amazing sparkle. Here's a closer view of my flower cluster . . .

The wonderful designers At Joan's Gardens (here) are looking for six guests to showcase handmade flowers for their May 15th blog hop. Flowers can be made from dies or punches. Making handmade flowers makes me happy especially since I can make them using my project scraps so the flowers coordinate so well. If you like to make handmade flowers then head over to Joan's and submit your entry while there's still time.

Friday, April 20, 2012

To celebrate the two newest additions to Elisabeth Bell's Digital Gallery (here), the Digi Bells Design Team is hosting a blog hop. I'm thrilled to participate in this hop as a guest designer for the Digi Bells. Yay!!!

How can you win your own Peek-A-Bunny OR Easter Basket digi image? You'll have to hop through and leave comments on EACH blog. [You can find the full list of 13 blogs at the Digi Bells Design Team blog (here).] Lynda will pick 2 blogs at random and the winners will be picked from those comments. The hoppers will have until May 4, 2012 at 9 AM to leave comments. The winners will be posted at the Digi Bells' blog on Saturday, May 5, 2012.

Another way to win your choice of one of the new images will be to do the hop, leave comments and then to make a "Spring Flowers" card using ANY Elisabeth Bell image and post it on the Digi Bells' Blog (here). This will also end on May 4, 2012 at 9 AM Arizona time and the winner will also be posted at the Digi Bells' blog on Saturday, May 5, 2012.

* * * * *

I've used Peek-A-Bunny on the front of an easel card. Cardstock layered with Best Creation's Bunny Love double-sided patterned glitter paper provides a busy Easter-themed background. A QuicKutz Antique Doily and Lace accent my image while a layered strip of Cheery Lynn Designs Grass borders the bottom. QuicKutz eggs are hidden throughout the grassy border. A Just Rite Spring Words set sentiment lies near my image.

Remember to leave your comment below then move along to your next stop at the wonderfully-talented Wendy's blog (here). For reference, you can find the full list of the blogs to hop at the Digi Bells Design Team blog (here).

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The digi design team over at the Crafts and Me Stamps challenge blog wants to see your Vintage projects. Crafts and Me Stamps is sponsoring this challenge and offering THREE digi images of the winner's choice to a randomly selected entry. You can find out more about this challenge and the sponsor here.

I've used a recently released digi image named Fairy Tales, designed by Sara Burrier, exclusively for Crafts and Me Stamps.

I've added Copic color to Kraft cardstock and used the Beyond the Edge technique when diecutting this image with a Spellbinders Oval then layered it onto a Spellbinders Labels Five die cut. Here's a closer view of my Copic-filled image . . .

I've used Punch Bunch medium and small cosmos with a mini sun and McGill pine branch to create my Bachelor's Button handmade flowers. A Paper Shaper daisy, mini sun and Punch Bunch small birch leaf form my small daisies. A light layer of Diamond Stickles adds some sparkle to my blooms and attracts a butterfly that lands nearby. Here's a closer view of one of my flower clusters . . .

Monday, April 16, 2012

I'm so glad that I made some time to play with this sweet digital image designed by Elisabeth Bell called Li'l Lynda's Piano Forte. This sweet little lady is dressed in her best as she sings her little heart out while playing the piano for her doll, puppy and everybody else who cares to listen. You can find her at the Elisabeth Bell Digital Gallery (here).

My sentiment, stamped onto a QuicKutz mini tag, is from a Close To My Heart Annotations set. A Zip Sweetheart alphabet die forms the letter "B" that I added to my sentiment. A jump ring holds a brass "wish" charm.

The coordinating handmade flowers are made from my card scraps with punches. The Bachelor's Button is formed from a Punch Bunch medium and small cosmos, mini sun, and McGill pine branch. My small daisies are formed from a Paper Shaper 6-petal daisy and Punch Bunch mini sun and birch leaf. I painted a light layer of Diamond Stickles over each for added glimmer. Here's a closer view of my flower cluster . . .

Thursday, April 12, 2012

I spent some time with the makings of a horizontal criss cross card. I let the dimensions of this 4 1/4" tall x 5 1/2" wide card dictate the size and location of my image and embellishments. Hmmm. I've got some thinkin' to do in order for this to turn out close to how I'd like it to look.

As I hoped to allow part of the insert to show, my image had to be fairly small. When using a digi image, I can easily resize the image to fit. Instead, I put my Stamp-a-ma-jig to task and, with the help of a negative mask, I found a way to stamp a select part of an Elisabeth Bell Belles 'n Whistles Story Time image into a die cut oval.

Handmade flowers are formed from layers of an EK Success Paper Shapers small 6-petal daisy, a Punch Bunch mini sun and birch leaf. As the flowers were punched from Bazzill Pink Bling, I only painted Diamond Stickles over the sun centers and the leaves for some special sparkle.

A sentiment from a Hero Arts' clear Elephants set was just the right size for this insert . . .

Triangles cut from Best Creations' A Walk in the Garden glitter paper pad add some sparkly patterns to my Bazzill cardstock. Some QuicKutz Revolution Flourishes and Prima Say it in Pearls Swirls Cream add movement to the striped paper. The belly-band of the card, covered with a Satin Sensations Island Blue 5/8" ribbon, wraps completely around the back and slides off easily. A Tim Holtz Charm Clip holds a warped clock charm. I've inserted a hot pink pearl heart Maya Road Trinket Pin into the bow. Here's a pic of the front of my criss-cross card showing my use of part of Elisabeth Bell's Belles 'n Whistles Story Time image . . .

You can also find wonderful Elisabeth Bell digital images at her online gallery here. Visit the Digi Bells Design Team blog here for digi design team inspiration.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

I'm looking forward to our family gathering for our Easter Breakfast meal and want to include a small candy filled favor at each place setting. In comes the Sizzix Big Shot Pro Carry All Box. In hardly any time at all, I had seven sweet Easter Blessings favors.

The latest Miss Caroline collection by My Mind's Eye provides beautiful Spring-, pastel-colored plaids and florals. The Sizzix Big Shot Pro Carry All Box die made it so easy to die cut the shape of this perfectly sized favor bag. The scored lines made it simple to adhere the single tab.

I used Spellbinders Circles dies to cut a window then adhered a piece of transparency to the inside of the box so treats can be easily viewed without opening the container. I adhered sticky back flocked paper in Dark Chocolate to grungeboard then used the Sizzix Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Mini Bunny for a sweet corner embellishment. I added a bow of JoAnn's Mini Dot Bright Yellow or Lavender 1/8" ribbon to the bunny's neck. A bottom border of Sizzix Grass adds to my scene. A little EK Success Adornments fibers tied around the handle adds a bit of fun fluff.

My Sizzlits scalloped tags with a gold eyelet, stamped with a JustRite Spring Words set "Easter Blessings" sentiment, are tied on with twine.
In just minutes, I was able to add several varieties of individually wrapped chocolates for my guests.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The digi design team over at the Crafts and Me Stamps challenge blog wants to see your Butterflies and Bows. Crafts and Me Stamps is sponsoring this challenge and offering THREE digi images of the winner's choice to a randomly selected entry. You can find out more about this challenge and the sponsor here.

I've used a recently released digi image named Moon Glow, designed by Hannah Lynn, exclusively for Crafts and Me Stamps.

Here's a closer view of my Copic-filled image . . .

It makes me happy when I'm able to create handmade flowers that coordinate perfectly with my project. I've used All Night Media and EK Success Paper Shaper small blossoms, Punch Bunch small and mini blossoms, mini suns and small birch leaves with a Spellbinders Foliage die cut to provide coordinated flowers. All are painted with a layer of Diamond Stickles glitter glue for extra sparkle. My Favorite Things Die-namics Butterflies add some dimension. I've cut one set of wings away from the body then glued just the bottom to the back. I added a "v" shape of size 20 cotton thread to the back of the body for antennae. Glossy Accents over the body provides some roundness. A Satin Sensations 5/8" ribbon bow adds a formal touch. My Mind's Eye twine holds my Technique Tuesday "Spring" and Close To My Heart "miracle" stamped QuicKutz tags. Here's a closer view of my flower cluster . . .

Monday, April 2, 2012

I'm thrilled to have a chance to play with this sweet digital image designed by Elisabeth Bell called Creative Genius. This image was showcased by the Digi Bells during a November 2011 blog hop (here) and I won this beauty by participating. Yay me!!! You can find her at the Elisabeth Bell Digital Gallery (here).

Here's a closer view of my Copic-filled image . . .

I've layered spots and stripes patterned paper from a Wild Rose Studio Spring Fling paper stack and some cardstock. A Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page Spiral Arches edge punch provides a center border. I die cut my image and matting using Spellbinders Large Labels and the Grand Large Labels. My sentiment is from a Stampin' Up! All-Year Cheer I set.

My favorite part of adding handmade flower clusters is that they coordinate so well with my project as I punch or die cut the flowers from my project scraps. Here I've used CarlaCraft Kikyou in large, medium and small, CarlaCraft Cosmos in large and medium, as well as Punch Bunch mini suns and a McGill pine branch punch. I painted a light layer of Diamond Stickles over each for added glimmer. Here's a closer view of one of my flower clusters . . .

This pic shows my card front . . .

The stamped sentiment inside of my card is from a Hero Arts Just Find Me set.